Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/04/28
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Beasts want to be on top of every hill , king of the world . There is no harm in that is there? We all want to say look mammy what i have done occasionally don,t we? Rule the world with a magic feather? simon | No, it doesn't explain why someone takes a snap of Skipper and Sissy, but | theoretically people on this list think of themselves as "photographers." | | And, no, I would not flunk her because she had one, or even several, | photos in her project that weren't good picks. | But she showed the photo in question independently, as her PAW for the | past week - students are required to produce one photo a week that can be | viewed as telling a story - and that one does. In terms of her project, it | is one of several showing that one of the 'clients' at the center was | upset, and several people, including his 'girlfriend,' whose hand was in | the photo, was one of those people... | | But the point I was trying to make, is that I think she hit the proverbial | nail on the head in terms of why "photographers" take photos - they take | them for the same reason that mountain climbers give for climbing | mountains - because they're there! | :-) | | | | On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 16:33:14 -0400, Phong <phong@doan-ltd.com> wrote: | | > B.D., | > | > That is only partially true, and I suppose | > more so for "photographers". The majority | > of the people who take photos are not | > photographers. They just want a snapshot | > of someone, or something that interest | > them. Even I do this sometimes, though | > I would never show the result to another | > photographer, especially on the LUG. :-) | > | > Anyway, your story raises and answers | > the question of why your student takes | > that photo. It does not address why | > she chose that photo to show. Clearly, | > if it does not fit her project, or the story | > she wants to tell, it would not be included, | > no matter how great the photo is. Otherwise | > you would flunk her, wouldn't you ? :-) | > | > - Phong | > | > | > | > B. D. Colen wrote: | >> | >> About 'our' motivation to photograph. | >> | >> This past Saturday, my students were showing roughs of their semester | >> projects. One young woman has been shooting at a center for the | >> developmentally disabled - aw, hell, the retarded - focusing on an art | >> program they have. She showed an image that was a close up of two | >> people's hands awkwardly touching - a striking image - and my TA noted | >> that this image was a good one for us to think about in terms of | >> addressing the question 'when is photo journalism/documentary | >> photography, voyeurism?' So we talked about it for a while and then I | >> asked the student, 'why did you take this photo?' Her response: | >> | >> "I thought it would be a great photo!" No bullshit. No 'I want to help | >> people.' No BS about 'understanding.' Just the bottom line - she's a | >> photographer, and the image leapt out at her. And that, in my humble | >> opinion, is what IT really is all about. | >> | >> We may take photos for various economic, personal, political, | >> journalistic reasons. But if we really are the beast called | >> photographers, it call comes down to "I thought it would be a great | >> photo!" | > | > _______________________________________________ | > Leica Users Group. | > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information | | | | -- | Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/ | _______________________________________________ | Leica Users Group. | See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information